Tags: Travel Spots. Australia. Tourist destinations. NSW. New South Wales
Episode 24 – On the way to Ulladulla
with Sabine Von Graz
As I mentioned in the last episode we decided to slowly wind up our adventure on the road and start a new one by moving to Bribie Island! This would have meant heading East but wait, there was still my birthday surprise we had to pick up at Ulladulla, just South of Sydney. Our route took us first from Charleville to Bourke, with the side of the road littered by hundreds of roos, emus and goats, occasionally slowing us down to walking speed, when some live ones would suddenly appear from the bushes and stroll leisurely across the highway in bright daylight.
Featured image(above): A great bike path leading around Cobar Lake
From Bourke we headed to Cobar and Forbes in NSW, catching up with some of Richard’s clients, and to check out the amazing Parkes Dish. But the attraction we loved the most was the whispering installation, which was put there to drive home the point of how a radio telescope actually works. There are two mini dishes one hundred meters apart, where you can stand in one…whisper some words…and the person standing in the other dish, far away, can clearly hear what you said! It sounds good, you think, but actually experiencing it is even better and mind-boggling, I was told by Ginger, who filled me in as I stayed home sick and missed out.
However all was good again once we headed to Cobar, where we loved our nightly ritual of walking up a little mountain to be rewarded by a sunset viewing over a working copper mine. It was fascinating to see those entrance tunnels so far and small below us with trucks and machinery appearing and disappearing into the mountain. A little bit of sadness crept in on our part, knowing we were leaving the outback behind, and diving back into the hustle and bustle of life on the coast and cities.
The Rocket
Still aiming for Ulladulla, we had to do the big hike with the ‘big ‘ rig over the Dividing Range, leaving us feeling rather car sick from all those curves. Ginger, probing Richard at every possible rest stop to lift his secret of the huge present being shipped to Ulladulla, found out that the present was something I collected… The only collectable item I could think off were small orange Buddhas, which were hard to come by in the outback, and as such luckily kept a lid on my collecting habit.
Cobar Mine
However, in Darwin, we went through a huge store filled with Buddhas and there we saw some life-size ones!! I know it was me leading Richard down that garden path, but now that we were moving back into a three bedroom unit on Bribie Island, where for God’s sake could you put a life-size statue of a Buddha! As Richard mentioned on the due day, it would take a while to pick up, assemble, and load the present onto the Dodge… Ginger’s suspicion was that he could not get an orange one to match my small collection, but rather a pink one to match the huge pink bow and ribbon they went to buy!!!
Coco getting his nails clipped
Once Richard had the present up and ready, he phoned, and I had to sit at the back window of the caravan to wait for the black Dodge to appear at the boom gate down the other end. While Ginger and I were waiting and complaining how long it took… I noticed a little white car stopping at the gate. I pointed out to Ginger that this car looks a bit like the Rocket, a car I loved but had to give away once Ginger was born, in exchange for a more sensible car, which could fit a baby and a pram.
The Rocket, I told her, (a Nissan 300 ZX) got its name as it made lots of noise when I was driving it, due to holes in the exhaust. It also had a few minor faults with the windscreen wipers, heater and speedo out of action, the drooping headlining occasionally blocking the driver’s view, and sometimes catching fire under the bonnet when waiting at traffic lights… But I just loooved that car – it was so imperfectly me. As this white car came closer I said to Ginger:” This is just like the Rocket!” and then I saw Richard driving the car with a big pink bow on top it!!! What a relief, it was not a life-size Buddha after all!!!! And how exciting to have a new Rocket in my life!
Passing by Canola fields
A true sign of love and dedication from my car-loving hubby! I think he enjoyed the secret search over the years just as much I did the present! Off I went for a test drive, and like the original Rocket the aircon was not working. Never mind, we took the Targa top off and had all the fresh air we needed! It also had the sound of the original Rocket emphasized by the 80’s music blasting from the rather perfect stereo system. Now of course it was up to me to drive the Rocket home, and with no navigation system on hand, I could not afford to lose Richard driving the rig in front of me.
I sat right up his clacker, when we all of a sudden got lost through Sydney, and to top it off the brake lights on his van started to play up! My mind on full alert and my body close to a heat stroke I was driving with all windows down, while I was targeted by other drivers furiously trying to point out that I had no number plate! Little did they know I actually had a permit, but that did not stop them from yelling, honking and having a conversation with me through my window, while driving!
A great bike path leading around Cobar Lake
I don’t know how we made it through all that chaos, but it was sheer relief when Richard finally pulled over and I could tell him all about the carry on behind the rig, and his non-existing brake lights! I think I can hear your big sigh of relief, and although this is the end of this episode, I hope you can join me for the next one, when we catch our breath at Shoal Bay!